Background correction for birefringence measurements

ABSTRACT

One example provides a computer-implemented method for reading data stored as birefringence values in a storage medium. The method comprises acquiring an image of a voxel of the storage medium, applying a first low-pass filter with a first cutoff frequency to the image of the voxel to obtain a first background image, applying a second low-pass filter with a second cutoff frequency to the image of the voxel to obtain a second background image, the second cutoff frequency being different than the first cutoff frequency, determining an enhanced background image from the first background image and the second background image, determining birefringence values for the enhanced background image, determining birefringence values for the image of the voxel, and correcting the birefringence values for the image of the voxel based upon the birefringence values for the enhanced background image.

BACKGROUND

Over the past decade, much of the world's data has moved into the cloud.To meet the increasing demand, cloud providers rely on a variety ofdata-storage technologies. These include non-volatile memory (NVM),flash, hard disk drives (HDDs), magnetic tape, and optical discs. Thesestorage technologies differ from each other in terms of cost, latency,throughput, storage density, failure rate, and media lifetime.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore,the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solveany or all disadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure.

A promising technology for storing data is to encode the data aslocalized birefringent voxels in a dielectric storage medium. Such datamay be stored at high densities, and the storage medium may have a longlifetime compared to magnetic and other storage media. Reading abirefringent voxel involves probing the voxel with polarized light, anddetecting polarization changes in the light resulting from the voxel.However, polarization changes also may arise from background sources,both external and internal to the storage medium. While externalbackground effects can be corrected by acquiring a measurement in theabsence of the storage medium, such background correction methods willnot correct for background polarization changes arising from the storagemedium itself. Further, acquiring a background measurement in theabsence of the storage medium requires an additional measurement to bemade, thereby increasing the amount of time utilized for data reading.Accordingly, aspects of the technology disclosed herein correct forbackground arising from sources external to the storage medium and thestorage medium itself using a same image of the storage medium.

One aspect provides a computer-implemented method for reading datastored as birefringence values in a storage medium. The method comprisesacquiring an image of a voxel of the storage medium, applying a firstlow-pass filter with a first cutoff frequency to the image of the voxelto obtain a first background image, applying a second low-pass filterwith a second cutoff frequency to the image of the voxel to obtain asecond background image, the second cutoff frequency being differentthan the first cutoff frequency, determining an enhanced backgroundimage from the first background image and the second background image,determining birefringence values for the enhanced background image,determining birefringence values for the image of the voxel, andcorrecting the birefringence values for the image of the voxel basedupon the birefringence values for the enhanced background image. Thefirst background image can represent more local backgroundcharacteristics, such as birefringence noise arising from other voxelsin the storage medium, while the second background image can representmore global background characteristics. The effect of the first bandpassfilter is to remove high-frequency data representing more detailedfeatures of a voxel that is in focus, thereby leaving less detailedfeatures from other voxels that are out-of-focus during the readprocess. With this aspect, an image of a birefringent sample can be usedto correct for background arising both from the storage medium itself aswell as from external sources, without acquiring a separate backgroundmeasurement in the absence of the storage medium.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates the reading of birefringent voxels in astorage medium.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic depiction of a storage medium comprising dataencoded as birefringent voxels.

FIG. 3 shows a Poincaré sphere that represents polarization states aslocations on the sphere.

FIG. 4 shows a flow diagram depicting an example method for determiningbirefringence values based upon a maximum value determined for alikelihood function.

FIG. 5 shows examples of polarization states for measuring birefringencevalues.

FIG. 6 shows example solutions for birefringence values based upon twomeasurements and based upon one measurement.

FIG. 7 shows a flow diagram depicting an example method for acquiringbirefringence measurements using wavelength multiplexing.

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of an example system for readingbirefringent data utilizing wavelength multiplexing.

FIG. 9 shows an example system for wavelength multiplexing light ofdifferent polarization states using light from a same image source.

FIGS. 10A-10B show a flow diagram depicting an example method formeasuring a birefringent voxel via wavelength multiplexing.

FIG. 11 shows a flow diagram depicting an example method for performingbackground correction for birefringence values.

FIG. 12 shows a block diagram of an example computing system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As mentioned above, one promising technology for cloud data storageinvolves the use of high-power, short-pulse laser irradiance tooptically write data into a solid dielectric substrate, such as glass.The irradiance induces at its focus a localized birefringence that canbe later read back using polarization imaging. The term ‘voxel’ is usedherein to refer to any discrete volume of a substrate where anindividual data value (i.e., symbol) may be stored. The data stored in avoxel may take various forms. In principle, any of the Muller-matrixcoefficients of a substrate lattice can be manipulated to encode data.In examples using silica glass substrates, the lattice perturbation fromfocused, polarized irradiance takes the form of a non-nativebirefringence localized at the focus. Accordingly, each voxel of thesubstrate can be modeled as a very small waveplate having a retardancemagnitude and an azimuth angle. These model parameters may bemanipulated independently to write a desired symbol to a given voxel.Here, the polarization angle of the beam determines the azimuth angle ofa voxel, while various other factors (pulse amplitude, duration, energy,number, and/or spacing between pulses) determine the retardance of thevoxel.

By dividing the continuous space of achievable azimuth angles and/orretardance magnitudes into discrete intervals, multi-bit data values canbe encoded into each voxel by writing the birefringence of that voxel tobe within one of the discrete intervals. Further, in some examples,plural parallel layers of voxel structures may be written to the samesubstrate by focusing the laser irradiance to specified depths below theirradiated surface of the substrate. These features, individually or incombination, may allow a high volume of data to be written into a singlemedium. In some examples, the storage medium comprises a solid,plate-like configuration. In other examples, the storage mediumcomprises a thin layer formed on another substrate. In further examples,the storage medium may have any other suitable configuration, such as aprism or cylinder.

A birefringent voxel behaves anisotropically when light passes throughit, as different light polarization states travel at different speedsthrough the sample. As light travels through or reflects from abirefringent voxel, its polarization state is altered in a specific waythat depends on the azimuth angle and retardance of the sample. As such,information regarding the azimuth angle and retardance of a voxel can beobtained by measuring the polarization state of polarized light that hasinteracted with a birefringent voxel.

Some methods of measuring a polarization state (and therefore the angleand retardance of a voxel) involve performing a series of measurementsusing different input or output (or both) polarizations. FIG. 1schematically illustrates the reading of birefringent data stored in astorage medium 100. Light from a light source 102 passes through apolarization state generator (PSG) 104, which outputs polarized lightwith a polarization angle determined by the PSG. The light source mayinclude an LED, laser or other light source.

After passing through the storage medium 100, the light from the lightsource 102 and PSG 104 passes through one or more voxels of a storagemedium 105, through a polarization state analyzer (PSA) 106 and then todetector 108. The settings of PSA 106 and PSG 104 define a polarizationstate k for an intensity m_(k) of a measurement, as described in moredetail below. The detector 108 may include, for example, a CMOS imagesensor (e.g. high-resolution/high frame-rate sensor) or other suitablephotodetector array that can image an entirety of a focal planepositioned within the storage medium 105, and thereby image a pluralityof arrayed voxels in a same image. In other examples, a point detectoror small detector array, for example, a photodiode, phototransistor, orSPAD (single photon avalanche diode) may be used to build up an imagepoint-by-point). Although FIG. 1 shows transmission of light raysthrough the storage medium and on to the image sensor, the light raysmay, in other examples, reach the image sensor by reflection from thestorage medium.

In examples in which data is to be read from a plurality of layers ofstorage medium 105, variable-focus optics 110 may be used to adjust afocal plane of the detector 108, such that voxels at the focal plane areread while others are out-of-focus. In other examples, varying the focuscan be achieved by moving the sample. FIG. 2 schematically shows anexample storage medium 200 comprising multiple layers of voxels, two ofwhich are illustrated at 202 and 204.

To describe the measurement of a voxel that is made, a commonly usedconstruction is the Poincare sphere, illustrated at 300 in FIG. 3. ThePoincare sphere 300 is used to represent the polarization states oflight by mapping the last three components of the 4-D Stokes vector ontoa 3-D cartesian coordinate system. For fully polarized light, aparticular measurement state is described by a particular position onthe surface of the sphere representing a particular polarization stateof light. Partially polarized light is represented by points inside fromthe surface of the Poincare sphere. The north pole represents RCP—rightcircularly polarized light. The south pole represents LCP—leftcircularly polarized light. The states on the equator are linearpolarizations with angle defined by the azimuthal angle on the sphere. Ageneral point on the sphere is elliptically polarized with ellipticitydetermined by the angle between the state and the pole, and azimuthdefined by the angle around the sphere. An example polarization state isshown at 302 on the sphere. The black dashed curved line is a circle ofconstant latitude, and thus of constant retardance. The term “swing”refers to the angle 304 of the measurement state relative to the pole ofthe sphere. The horizontal angle is the azimuth 306. As the azimuthangle and retardance of the voxel leads to the output state ofpolarization of probe light, the azimuth angle and retardance of thevoxel

Current methods for determining birefringence values for a voxel of astorage medium involve three or more (typically four) measurements ofthe voxel taken at different probe light polarization states. Multiplemeasurements are used because the determination involves four degrees offreedom—the voxel retardance, the voxel azimuth angle, a measurementscale and a measurement offset. Four-measurement methods determine allfour of these values for each read process. Shribak and Oldenbourg (M.Shribak and R. Oldenbourg, “Techniques for Fast and SensitiveMeasurements of Two-Dimensional Birefringence Distributions” in AppliedOptics, Volume 42, Issue 16, 2003, published by Optical Society ofAmerica, (www.osapublishing.org/ao/abstract.cfm?uri=ao-42-16-3009; seealso doi.org/10.1364/AO.42.003009) describe a three-measurement methodthat assumes that the offset is zero, and solves for the other threeparameters via the three measurements. However, the use of three or fourmeasurements impact a speed at which data can be retrieved from storage,due to the number of measurements made.

Accordingly, example measurement processes are disclosed herein that maybe used to determine azimuth angle and retardance values for abirefringent voxel using fewer than three measurements. Briefly, thedisclosed methods utilize constraints on retardance values based uponprior knowledge of the retardance to allow retardance and azimuth anglevalues to be determined with two measurements, or even one measurement.The disclosed methods also may be used with three measurements, andoffer the advantages over prior three-measurement methods that theoffset does not need to be assumed to be zero as long as it is knownprior to measurement, and that relative retardance and angle may bedetermined. As scale and offset do not vary significantly spatially ortemporally in the context of reading data encoded as birefringence in astorage medium, the scale and offset may be determined one time orperiodically using a four (or more) measurement technique, and then thedetermined scale and offset values may be used for subsequentdeterminations of retardance and angle using fewer than fourmeasurements. Further, as described below, scale and offset, when notknown, may be determined via numerical optimization techniques.

FIG. 4 shows a flow diagram illustrating an example method 400 fordetermining birefringence values. Method 400 is an example of atechnique that can be used to determine scale and offset value for usefor subsequent determinations using fewer measurements, and offers theadvantage over current methods that arbitrary probe light polarizationstates may be used to make the determination, rather than predeterminedstates that may be hard to implement via physical instruments. Method400 first comprises, at 402, acquiring four or more of measurements of avoxel at different polarization states, wherein each measurementcomprises an observed intensity m_(k) at measurement state k defined bya measurement polarization state with swing χ_(k) and angle θ_(k),Method 400 further comprises, at 404, determining a likelihood functionfor the measurements of the voxel, wherein the likelihood functionrepresents, for each birefringence value set of a plurality ofbirefringence value sets, a likelihood of the measurements of the voxelbeing produced by the birefringence value set. The likelihood isdetermined as a function of angle and retardance using an assumption ofa noise model and a model for the data. Any suitable data model andnoise model may be used, including Gaussian, Poisson, and a combinationof Gaussian and Poisson. As one example, a likelihood of measuringintensity m_(k) given measurement state k using a Gaussian noise model(indicated at 406) is given by equation (1).

$\begin{matrix}{{P\left( m_{k} \middle| I_{k} \right)} = {\left( {2\pi\sigma^{2}} \right)^{- \frac{1}{2}}{\exp\left( {- \frac{\left( {I_{k} - m_{k}} \right)^{2}}{2\sigma^{2}}} \right)}}} & (1)\end{matrix}$In equation (1), I_(k)=a(1−cos χ_(k) cos δ+sin χ_(k) sin δsin(2ϕ−2θ))+b, where I_(k) is the expected measurement taken forpolarization state k, δ is the sample retardance, ϕ is the sample angle,α is the scale parameter, b is the offset, and σ is the noise. The term“birefringence value set” indicates a set of values for {a, b, δ, ϕ}.Using this expression, a likelihood function to determine a likelihoodof a set of measurements can be expressed as

$\left\{ m_{k} \right\}_{k = 1}^{N},{{{as}{\mspace{11mu}\;}L} = {\prod\limits_{k = 1}^{N}{{P\left( m_{k} \middle| I_{k} \right)}.}}}$L is computed for a plurality of birefringence value sets, and a maximumvalue is determined for the likelihood function, as indicated at 408.The maximum value of the likelihood function then is used, at 410, todetermine a most likely set of birefringence values for the set ofmeasurements of the voxel based upon the set that produced the maximumdetermined value. This may be expressed mathematically as equation (2).{a,b,δ,ϕ}=argmax(L(a,b,δ,ϕ))  (2)

The scale and offset determined may be used in determinations usingthree or fewer measurements. It will be understood that the term maximumdetermined value, and similar terms used herein, are not meant toindicate an actual global maximum for a likelihood function, but ratherto represent a maximum observed value for all sets of parametersutilized. It further will be understood that, in other examples, anyother suitable method may be used to determine the birefringence valuesincluding scale and offset. For example, in accordance with Bayes'theorem, it is also possible to include prior knowledge about angle orretardance distributions and instead of calculating the likelihood ofthe parameters, one can calculate the posterior. In this case one couldfind the values of the parameters that maximized the posterior (oftenthis is called MAP—maximum a posteriori). In such examples, parametervalues may be determined, for example, by finding the expectation of theposterior, or by using other statistical measures.

As mentioned above, an advantage offered by the use of a maximumdetermined likelihood method to determine birefringence values for avoxel is that the polarization states used for the measurements may bearbitrary, rather than predetermined. Nevertheless, in some examples,some configurations of polarization states may provide for better use ofavailable signal than other configurations of states. Two examples ofsuch configurations are as follows. Referring again to the Poincaresphere of FIG. 3, a first example of a set of polarization states fordetermining birefringence values for voxel comprises a circularlypolarized input state (as set by the PSG) with one-handedness, andelliptically polarized output states (as set by the PSA) with theopposite handedness to the input state and equal ellipticity to eachother, but having varying azimuths that are spaced equally around halfor all of a circle at an equal latitude on the Poincare sphere, such asat {0, 45, 90, 135} degrees or {0, 22.5, 45, 67.5} degrees. A secondexample set of polarization states comprises an output state circularlypolarized with one handedness and input states that are ellipticallypolarized with the opposite handedness to the output state and equalellipticity to each other but having varying azimuths, wherein theazimuths are equally spaced around half or all of a circle on thesurface of the Poincare sphere. FIG. 5 depicts examples of three suchpolarization state configurations, each configuration denoted by pointswith a different symbol from the other configurations. In FIG. 5, theview of the Poincare sphere is along the polar axis of the sphere, thedashed circle corresponds to a selected latitude comprising thepolarization states, and the outer border corresponds to the equator ofthe sphere.

When measurements are configured in this way, the azimuth angle of thevoxel can be determined as follows:

$\begin{matrix}{{\phi = {\frac{1}{2}{\arctan\left( \frac{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{N}{m_{k}\sin 2\theta_{k}}}{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{N}{m_{k}\cos 2\theta_{k}}} \right)}}},{N > 3}} & (3)\end{matrix}$

Here ϕ is the measured angle, the index k indicates the measurementnumber with m_(k) being the intensity of the k^(th) measurement, and2θ_(k) being the angle of the k^(th) measurement state on the Poincarésphere. To find the retardance, one suitable method comprisesnumerically optimizing a likelihood of the data given the measurements,as described above with regard to FIG. 4.

As mentioned above, prior knowledge of the scale and offset parametersmay be used to determine the azimuth angle and retardance of a voxelusing a reduced number of measurements. For example, the azimuth anglefor a voxel may be determined using three-measurements plus a knownoffset value by using equation (4).

$\begin{matrix}{{\phi = {\frac{1}{2}{\arctan\left( \frac{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{N}{m_{k}\sin 2\theta_{k}}}{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{N}{m_{k}\cos 2\theta_{k}}} \right)}}},{N = 3}} & (4)\end{matrix}$The retardance may be found, for example, by numerical maximization of alikelihood function, as described above. Further, even where scale andoffset are not initially known, numerical optimization techniques may beused to determine the scale and offset. In such examples, the scale andoffset may be determined where information about the expecteddistribution of angles is known (as may be the case for previouslywritten birefringent voxels). With prior knowledge of the expecteddistribution of angles, the scale and offset may be adjustedcomputationally until the expected distribution is achieved to asuitable approximation.

Where some prior information on the retardance is known, but theretardance value itself is not known, a two-measurement method may beused to determine birefringence values for a voxel. In some examples,the two-measurement method also utilizes prior knowledge of scale andoffset, while in other examples, the scale and offset are determined bynumerical optimization, as mentioned above.

When using two measurements, even with knowledge of the offset andscale, there are still two possible solutions for the retardance andangle of the sample. This is because each measurement restricts thesolutions to lie on a 2D plane in the 3D space of the Poincare sphere.Therefore, the two measurements define a line in 3D. FIG. 6 illustratesexamples of two-measurement determinations for a hypothetical voxel onPoincare sphere 602. In this example, the line 604 defined by the twomeasurements for the voxel intersects the surface of the sphere at twopoints 606 and 608.

To determine which of the two points corresponds to the actualbirefringence values of the voxel that was measured, a constraint isapplied that selects the point with the lower retardance ascorresponding to the state of the voxel, as it can be shownmathematically that the other solution is at least as large as theeffective retardance of the measurement states. For example, given thetwo measurements in Poincare sphere 602, point 606 would be selectedsince it represents a lower retardance value compared to point 608. Thisprior information-based constraint may be used in any system where theeffective measurement retardance is known to be different (either largeror smaller) than the measurement retardance. This constraint narrowsdown the solution to one point on the sphere, which allows the sampleretardance and azimuth to be determined.

A more detailed mathematical description of an example two-measurementmethods is as follows. It will be noted that the method may be performedeither by using values for scale and offset that are initiallydetermined using a greater number of measurements (e.g. four), and thenapplied to the two-measurement determinations, or by determining scaleand offset values using numerical optimization methods. Where values forscale and offset are determined initially, any suitable method todetermine these parameters may be used, including the maximum likelihoodexample described above with regard to FIG. 4.

After acquiring measurements, the example two-measurement method firstinvolves solving the following set of simultaneous equations (5, 6, 7)for the retardance δ:m ₁ =a(1−cos χ₁ cos δ+sin χ₁ sin δ sin(2ϕ−2θ₁))+b  (5)m ₂ =a(1−cos χ₂ cos δ+sin χ₂ sin δ sin(2ϕ−2θ₂))+b  (6)(sin δ sin(2ϕ−2θ₁))²+(sin δ sin(2ϕ−2θ₂))²+cos²δ=1  (7)As there are two possible solutions for 6, the smaller value isselected, as described above. Next, the azimuth angle can be computedusing equation (8),

$\begin{matrix}{\phi = {{\frac{1}{2}{\arctan\left( \frac{\sin\left( {{2\phi} - {2\theta_{1}}} \right)}{\sin\left( {{2\phi} - {2\theta_{2}}} \right)} \right)}} + \theta_{2} - \theta_{1}}} & (8)\end{matrix}$when mod

$\left( {{\theta_{2} - \theta_{1}},\frac{\pi}{2}} \right) = {\frac{\pi}{4}.}$

Where known values of the scale and offset were used in thisdetermination, then the determination is complete at this stage. On theother hand, where assumed scale and offset values were used, then priorinformation may be used to adjust a and b. For example, where thedistribution of angles will be uniform (as may be the case withbirefringent data, where the writing process for the data is known),then the distribution of angles may be computed, and equations (5)-(7)and (8) may be repeatedly determined while adjusting a and b until themeasured angular histogram is sufficiently similar to the expected one.

Where the retardance of a voxel is known (as the case may be where thebirefringence writing properties are known), birefringence values may bedetermined via a single measurement, again using known or assumed valuesfor the scale and offset parameters. Where assumed values are used, thevalues can be numerically optimized. Based upon the known or assumedscale and offset values, the single measurement 612 defines atwo-dimensional plane in three-dimensional space, with reference to thePoincaré sphere 610 of FIG. 6. This two-dimensional plane intersects thesurface of the sphere along a circle 614, where the circle represents acontinuous range of possible sample angles and retardance values. Wherethe sample retardance (represented by angle 616) is known accurately,then the angle can be determined to within one of two values(represented by points 620 and 622), namely, where the retardance plane618 intersects the measurement circle 614. In comparison, theabove-described two-measurement example utilized less-detailed priorinformation, namely, that the retardance is less than the swing. Whereit is known that the angle is in some range that spans only half of thetotal available angles, for example between 0 and 90 degrees, or between45 and 135 degrees (or any other 90 degree range) then these two pointscan be restricted down to one, which determines the retardance and angleof the specimen. Mathematically, the computation to perform thedisclosed example one-measurement determination is expressed byequations (9) and (10).m ₁ =a(1−cos χ₁ cos δ+sin χ₁ sin δ sin(2ϕ−2θ₁))+b  (9)

$\begin{matrix}{\phi = {{\frac{1}{2}{\arcsin\left( \frac{1 - {\frac{\left( {m_{1} - b} \right)}{a}\cos\chi_{1}\cos\delta}}{\sin\chi_{1}\sin\delta} \right)}} + \theta_{1}}} & (10)\end{matrix}$

FIG. 7 shows a flow diagram depicting an example method 700 fordetermining birefringence values for a voxel using two or fewermeasurements. As described above, the method of FIG. 7 may utilize scaleand offset parameters determined via the method of FIG. 4, or mayinitially assume and then numerically optimize these parameters. Method700 comprises, at 702, acquiring measurement data for a birefringentvoxel by directing probe light comprising one or more predeterminedpolarization states through the birefringent voxel and receiving thelight at the image sensor. In some examples, as indicated at 704, themeasurement data may comprise measurement data acquired using light of afirst polarization state, and measurement data acquired using light of asecond, different polarization state. In other examples, the measurementdata may comprise data from a single measurement, as indicated at 706.

Continuing, method 700 comprises, at 708, based upon the measurementdata, determining two points on a surface of a Poincaré spherecorresponding to two possible birefringent states of the birefringentvoxel each state comprising a set of birefringence values, and applyinga constraint to determine birefringence values for the voxel. Forexample, where measurements are taken at two polarization states, twoazimuth angle solution exist to equations (5)-(7) above. In thisinstance, method 700 comprises, at 710, applying a constraint specifyingthat the set of birefringence values having the lower retardance valueis the correct set. By selecting the point on the Poincaré sphere thatrepresents the lower retardance, the azimuth angle may be solved usingequation 8 above, thereby providing a determined set of birefringencevalues for the voxel.

Where a single measurement is used, method 700 comprises, at 712,determining a circle on the surface of the Poincare sphere based uponthe measurement, the circle comprising two locations that intersect aplane representing a known retardance of the voxel. Then, at 714, thepoint representing the birefringence values of the voxel may be selectedbased upon the azimuth angle of the point being within an expected rangeof angles, and the birefringence values may be determined usingequations (9) and (10) above. Method 700 further optionally comprises,at 716, numerically optimizing a likelihood function based upon thedetermined azimuth and retardance values to determine scale and offsetvalues in instances where these values are not known initially. Method700 further comprises, at 718, outputting the birefringence values ofthe voxel.

The above-described examples may help to reduce the time and computingresources consumed when reading birefringent voxels in a storage mediumcompared to methods that use four or more measurements. Other processesalso may alternatively or additionally be used to provide for theefficient reading of birefringent voxels. For example, wavelengthmultiplexing may be used to reduce a number of individual imagesacquired during a reading process.

FIG. 8 shows a schematic depiction of an example system 800 for readingbirefringent storage media. System 800 utilizes wavelength multiplexingin which N different wavelength bands of light having differentpolarization states are multiplexed to acquire a number N ofmeasurements in a temporally overlapping manner. System 800 comprises Nlight sources, illustrated as first light source 802, second lightsource 804, and N^(th) light source 806, each configured to output lightof a different wavelength band (e.g. red, green and blue). Each lightsource directs light into a corresponding PSG, shown respectively forlight sources 802, 804 and 806 as PSG 808, PSG 810, and PSG 812, toallow a different polarization state to be set for each wavelength band.In other examples, a system to perform two temporally overlappingmeasurements may have two light sources and corresponding PSGs.

Light from each PSG is directed toward a storage medium 814 that isplaced in a sample region of the system for reading the storage medium.The term “sample region” is used herein to represent a location at whicha storage medium is placed for reading. In the depicted example, N−1beam combiners (illustrated as beam combiner 1 816 and beam combiner N−1818) are used to combine the light from each PSG into a beam for probingthe sample medium.

In the depicted embodiment, an optic in the form of a condenser lens 820directs light through the storage medium, and an objective lens 817focuses the light onto a detector in the form of an image sensor 822that images an entirety of a data layer within the storage medium 814per image frame. An achromatic PSA 824 is positioned between the storagemedium and the image sensor 822. The image sensor 822 comprises aplurality of integrated wavelength-selective bandpass filters, such thatlight of different wavelength bands passes through different filters andonto different areas of a pixel of the image sensor 822. In this manner,an intensity of each wavelength band of light (each of which has adifferent polarization setting) may be measured in a same image frame.

In some examples, one or more physical masks may be used for pupilengineering to help enhance a quality of a signal used to readbirefringence-encoded data in a storage medium. Example masks that maybe used are illustrated schematically as intensity mask 825 and phasemask 826. The engineering of the pupil may depend upon a layout (e.g. anx,y,z spatial distribution) of voxels in a storage medium. For example,a ring-shaped intensity mask added to the pupil of a lens generates aBessel beam rather than the conventional Gaussian beam. Phase masks canalso be applied to engineer the polarization field at sample plane, tooptimize the pupil profile for the intended type of birefringencedistribution of the sample. Thus, if a specific measuring optical probeis desirable, by engineering the shape of the input light, the signalsthat can be used as input for these methods can be tailored with thepurpose of enhancing the quality of the measurements.

In some examples, adjustable focus optics may be moved to selectivelyfocus voxels at particular layers within a volume of the storage medium814, and thereby allow the reading of different layers. In otherexamples, the storage medium may be moved to focus on voxels indifferent layers. While the depicted image sensor includes integratedbandpass filters, in other examples bandpass filters may be includedelsewhere in a system. For example, a system may utilize plural PSGs andwavelength multiplexing in combination with a rotating bandpass filter(e.g. a color wheel) to allow the sequential acquisition of images ofdifferent polarization states.

As mentioned above, in some examples a lesser number of light sourcesmay be used to produce a greater number of wavelength bands havingdifferent polarization states. FIG. 9 shows an example light sourceconfiguration in which light from a single light source 902 is split viaa dichroic beam splitter 904 into two beams 906, 908 of differentwavelength bands. Beams 906 and 908 are directed through respective PSGs912, 914 using any suitable optics (such as mirrors 916, 918 in thedepicted example), and PSGs 912, 914 set different polarization statesfor beams 906 and 908. After passing through the PSGs, beams 906, 908are combined with dichroic beam combiner 920 for probing a storagemedium. In other examples, light from a suitable light source may besplit into three or more different wavelength bands.

FIGS. 10A-10B show a flow diagram depicting an example method 1000 foracquiring plural temporally overlapping measurements via wavelengthmultiplexing. First, referring to FIG. 10A, method 1000 comprises, at1002, generating first polarized light of a first wavelength band, thefirst polarized light comprising a first polarization state, andgenerating second polarized light of a second wavelength band differentthan the first wavelength band, the second polarized light comprising asecond polarization state that is different from the first polarizationstate. In some examples, light of the first wavelength band is outputvia a first light source and light of the second wavelength band isoutput by a second light source, as indicated at 1004. In otherexamples, light may be output from a lesser number of light sources, andthen split into a greater number of beams of different wavelength bands,as indicated at 1006. Further, it will be understood that additionalwavelength bands beyond two may be used. As such, method 1000 maycomprise, at 1008, outputting light of three or more differentwavelength bands having different polarization states to generate thirdpolarized light and potentially additional other polarized light beams.

Continuing, method 1000 comprises, at 1010, passing the first polarizedlight and the second polarized light through a voxel of a storagemedium, thereby changing the first polarization state of the firstpolarized light to a first modified polarization state, and changing thesecond polarization state of the second polarized light to a secondmodified polarization state. Passing the first polarized light and thesecond polarized light through the voxel of the storage medium maycomprise, at 1012, combining the first polarized light and the secondpolarized light via a beam combiner before passing the first and secondpolarized light through the storage medium. Further, process 1010 alsomay comprise, at 1014, combining third polarized light, and anyadditional wavelength bands of polarized light, with the first andsecond polarized light before passing the light through the storagemedium. In some examples, one or more masks may be used to implement anengineered pupil. As such, method 1000 may comprise, at 1016, passingthe polarized light through an intensity mask before passing thepolarized light through the voxel of the storage medium. Alternativelyor additionally, method 1000 may comprise, at 1018, passing thepolarized light through a phase mask before passing the polarized lightthrough a voxel of the storage medium.

Next referring to FIG. 10B, method 1000 comprises, at 1022, passing thefirst polarized light, the second polarized light and any additionalwavelength bands of polarized light through a polarization stateanalyzer after passing the polarized light through the voxel of thestorage medium, wherein the analyzer attenuates an intensity of thelight based upon a polarization state of the light compared to a stateof the analyzer. Then, at 1024, method 1000 comprises passing the firstpolarized light through a first bandpass filter onto the image sensor,and passing the second polarized light through a second bandpass filterand onto the image sensor, wherein the first bandpass filter selectivelypasses the first wavelength band and the second bandpass filterselectively passes the second wavelength band. Further, as indicated at1026, additional wavelength bands of polarized light having differentpolarization states may be passed through corresponding additionalbandpass filters. In this manner, intensities of the first wavelengthband, the second wavelength band, and any additional wavelength bands,are separately imaged.

In some examples, the first bandpass filter, the second bandpass filter,and any additional bandpass filters are integrated with the image sensoras spatially separate filters integrated with a pixel of the imagesensor. In such examples, method 1000 comprises, at 1028, passing thefirst polarized light onto a first region of the image sensor, passingthe second polarized light onto a second region of the image sensor, andpassing any additional wavelength bands of polarized light onto theimage sensor. In this manner, images for each polarization state can beseparately acquired in a same image frame. In other examples, thedifferent bandpass filters may be applied in a time-multiplexed manner,such as by a color wheel. In such examples, different image frames areacquired for each wavelength band. After acquiring the measurementsusing the different wavelength bands for different polarizationsettings, method 1000 comprises, at 1030, determining birefringencevalues for the voxel based upon the first polarized light received atthe image sensor via the first bandpass filter and the second polarizedlight received at the image sensor via the second bandpass filter, plusany additional wavelength-multiplexed polarized light. The birefringencevalues may be determined using the example methods disclosed above, orin any other suitable manner.

With any of the above-described methods, the system and medium thatprobe light passes through when probing a voxel can impart additionalrotation and/or retardance on the polarized light used to probe voxel.For example, reading a layer of voxels in a data storage mediumcomprising a three-dimensional array of voxels may result in a state ofpolarized probe light being rotated by passing through otherout-of-focus layers of voxels in a read process. System imperfectionsalso may lead to background noise. As such, it is often of interest tomeasure the birefringent properties of a sample such as a data storagemedium relative to imperfections in the system and storage medium (e.g.the presence of other voxels in the optical path that are not beingread). This is referred to as background subtraction.

Current methods involve the removal of background signal by capturing aset of images {b_(k)} in addition to the measurement set {m_(k)} andcomputing the angle and retardance of the background. The {b_(k)} arecaptured using the same instrument with the same set of polarizationstates as the {m_(k)}. The {b_(k)}, are captured simply by removing theactual sample from the field of view. It is also possible to estimate{b_(k)} from {m_(k)} by for example performing a blurring operation. Theblur can be achieved by a simple low-pass filter. However, such methodsmay not correct adequately for both system imperfections and sampleimperfections such as other voxels.

As such, examples are disclosed that relate to estimating {b_(k)} from{m_(k)} based on a two-step process in which two low-passed versions ofthe measured intensities are calculated and combined using amultiplicative constant to form an enhanced background image. In thismanner, both a local and a global background intensity are estimated,which may represent a more accurate estimation for the backgroundintensities at the large and small scales, as the large-scale backgroundmay compensate for the imperfect system while the small-scale backgroundmay compensate for the three-dimensional nature of the storage medium.The filter parameters and multiplicative constant may be derived, forexample, by performing a minimization of an error between a knownspecimen's retardance and calculated retardance distributions. Such abackground correction method may be more efficient than separatelyacquiring a background image for the system (e.g. without a data storagemedium present in the sample region), as fewer physical measurementprocesses are performed, thereby saving time and resources utilized fora separate physical background measurement. As a more specific example,for a sample with known data encoded into the glass and for which a setof image frames have been acquired, initial filter parameters andmultiplicative constant are set, and the encoded data is decoded. Thisis repeated with updated filter parameters and multiplicative constant.The parameters and multiplicative constant that give a determined lowesterror in decoding are then selected. The process of updating the filterparameters can be a brute search in the parameter space or a gradientmethod in various examples.

FIG. 11 shows a flow diagram depicting an example method 1100 forcorrecting birefringence values using a plurality of low-pass filters.Method 1100 comprises, at 1102, acquiring an intensity image of a voxelof a storage medium. To measure the birefringence of the voxel, multipleimages of the voxel are acquired at different polarization states, asindicated at 1104. In some examples, the image may be of a plurality ofvoxels arrayed in an image plane within the storage medium, as indicatedat 1106. The image of the voxel comprises higher frequency imageinformation arising from a birefringence state of the voxel and lowerfrequency image information arising from one or more birefringentregions of the storage medium other than the voxel.

At 1108, method 1100 comprises applying a first low-pass filter to theimage of the voxel to obtain a first background image, and applying asecond low-pass filter to the image of the voxel to obtain a secondbackground image. As described above, the first and second low-passfilters have different cut-off frequencies, such that the firstbackground image may represent more local background characteristics,such as birefringence noise arising from other voxels in the storagemedium, while the second background image may have a lower cut-offrequency than the first low-pass filter and represent more globalbackground characteristics. The effect of the more localized low-passfilter may be to remove high-frequency data representing more detailedfeatures of a voxel that is in focus, thereby leaving less detailedfeatures from other voxels that are out-of-focus during the readprocess. As indicated at 1110, the first and second low-pass filters areapplied to each measurement image acquired for the voxel to form abackground image for each measurement image.

Continuing, method 1100 includes, at 1112, determining an enhancedbackground image from the first background image and the secondbackground image. The enhanced background image may be determined in anysuitable manner. In some example, the enhanced background image may bedetermined by combining the first background image and the secondbackground image using a multiplicative constant, as indicated at 1114.A more specific example utilizes the following equation:b _(k)=α(LowPass₁(m _(k))−LowPass₂(m _(k)))+LowPass₂(m _(k)),  (11)where measured intensities=m_(k), local background intensities arerepresented by LowPass₁(m_(k)), global background intensities arerepresented by LowPass₂(m_(k)), α is a multiplicative constant used as ascale factor, and b_(k) is the enhanced background image.

Method 1100 further includes, at 1116, determining birefringence valuesfor the enhanced background image and, at 118, birefringence values forthe image of the voxel. Each set of birefringence values comprises aretardance value and an azimuth value angle, and may be determined usingthe examples described above, or in any other suitable manner.

Method 1100 further comprises, at 1120, correcting the birefringencevalues for the image of the voxel based on the birefringence values forthe enhanced background image. Correcting the birefringence values forthe image may comprise, for example, determining a relative rotation andrelative retardance of the birefringence values for the image of thevoxel compared to the birefringence values for the enhanced backgroundimage, as indicated at 1122. In one example, measurement retardanceδ_(m) and angle θ_(m) are from {m_(k)}, and the background retardanceδ_(b) and angle θ_(b) are determined from {b_(k)}, for example, usingany of the methods described above, or other suitable method. Therelative angle δ_(r) and retardance δ_(r) are determined by thefollowing equations.δ_(r) sin 2θ_(r)=δ_(m) sin 2θ_(m)−δ_(b) sin 2θ_(b) =U,  (12)δ_(r) cos 2θ_(r)=δ_(m) sin 2θ_(m)−δ_(b) sin 2θ_(b) =V,  (13)δ_(r)=√{square root over (U ² +V ²)},  (14)

$\begin{matrix}{\theta_{r} = {\frac{1}{2}{\arctan\left( \frac{U}{V} \right)}}} & (15)\end{matrix}$

In some embodiments, the methods and processes described herein may betied to a computing system of one or more computing devices. Inparticular, such methods and processes may be implemented as acomputer-application program or service, an application-programminginterface (API), a library, and/or other computer-program product.

FIG. 12 schematically shows a non-limiting embodiment of a computingsystem 1200 that can enact one or more of the methods and processesdescribed above. Computing system 1200 is shown in simplified form.Computing system 1200 may take the form of one or more personalcomputers, server computers, tablet computers, home-entertainmentcomputers, network computing devices, gaming devices, mobile computingdevices, mobile communication devices (e.g., smart phone), and/or othercomputing devices.

Computing system 1200 includes a logic subsystem 1202 and a storagesubsystem 1204. Computing system 1200 may optionally include a displaysubsystem 1206, input subsystem 1208, communication subsystem 1210,and/or other components not shown in FIG. 12.

Logic subsystem 1202 includes one or more physical devices configured toexecute instructions. For example, the logic subsystem may be configuredto execute instructions that are part of one or more applications,services, programs, routines, libraries, objects, components, datastructures, or other logical constructs. Such instructions may beimplemented to perform a task, implement a data type, transform thestate of one or more components, achieve a technical effect, orotherwise arrive at a desired result.

The logic subsystem may include one or more processors configured toexecute software instructions. Additionally or alternatively, the logicsubsystem may include one or more hardware or firmware logic subsystemsconfigured to execute hardware or firmware instructions. Processors ofthe logic subsystem may be single-core or multi-core, and theinstructions executed thereon may be configured for sequential,parallel, and/or distributed processing. Individual components of thelogic subsystem optionally may be distributed among two or more separatedevices, which may be remotely located and/or configured for coordinatedprocessing. Aspects of the logic subsystem may be virtualized andexecuted by remotely accessible, networked computing devices configuredin a cloud-computing configuration.

Storage subsystem 1204 includes one or more physical devices configuredto hold instructions executable by the logic subsystem to implement themethods and processes described herein. When such methods and processesare implemented, the state of storage subsystem 1204 may betransformed—e.g., to hold different data.

Storage subsystem 1204 may include removable and/or built-in devices.Storage subsystem 1204 may include optical memory (e.g., CD, DVD,HD-DVD, Blu-Ray Disc, etc.), semiconductor memory (e.g., RAM, EPROM,EEPROM, etc.), and/or magnetic memory (e.g., hard-disk drive,floppy-disk drive, tape drive, MRAM, etc.), among others. Storagesubsystem 1204 may include volatile, nonvolatile, dynamic, static,read/write, read-only, random-access, sequential-access,location-addressable, file-addressable, and/or content-addressabledevices.

It will be appreciated that storage subsystem 1204 includes one or morephysical devices. However, aspects of the instructions described hereinalternatively may be propagated by a communication medium (e.g., anelectromagnetic signal, an optical signal, etc.) that is not held by aphysical device for a finite duration.

Aspects of logic subsystem 1202 and storage subsystem 1204 may beintegrated together into one or more hardware-logic components. Suchhardware-logic components may include field-programmable gate arrays(FPGAs), program- and application-specific integrated circuits(PASIC/ASICs), program- and application-specific standard products(PSSP/ASSPs), system-on-a-chip (SOC), and complex programmable logicdevices (CPLDs), for example.

The term “program” may be used to describe an aspect of computing system1200 implemented to perform a particular function. In some cases aprogram may be instantiated via logic subsystem 1202 executinginstructions held by storage subsystem 1204. It will be understood thatdifferent programs may be instantiated from the same application,service, code block, object, library, routine, API, function, etc.Likewise, the same program may be instantiated by differentapplications, services, code blocks, objects, routines, APIs, functions,etc. The term “program” may encompass individual or groups of executablefiles, data files, libraries, drivers, scripts, database records, etc.

It will be appreciated that a “service”, as used herein, is anapplication program executable across multiple user sessions. A servicemay be available to one or more system components, programs, and/orother services. In some implementations, a service may run on one ormore server-computing devices.

When included, display subsystem 1206 may be used to present a visualrepresentation of data held by storage subsystem 1204. This visualrepresentation may take the form of a graphical user interface (GUI). Asthe herein described methods and processes change the data held by thestorage subsystem, and thus transform the state of the storagesubsystem, the state of display subsystem 1206 may likewise betransformed to visually represent changes in the underlying data.Display subsystem 1206 may include one or more display devices utilizingvirtually any type of technology. Such display devices may be combinedwith logic subsystem 1202 and/or storage subsystem 1204 in a sharedenclosure, or such display devices may be peripheral display devices.

When included, input subsystem 1208 may comprise or interface with oneor more user-input devices such as a keyboard, mouse, touch screen, orgame controller. In some embodiments, the input subsystem may compriseor interface with selected natural user input (NUI) componentry. Suchcomponentry may be integrated or peripheral, and the transduction and/orprocessing of input actions may be handled on- or off-board. Example NUIcomponentry may include a microphone for speech and/or voicerecognition; an infrared, color, stereoscopic, and/or depth camera formachine vision and/or gesture recognition; a head tracker, eye tracker,accelerometer, and/or gyroscope for motion detection and/or intentrecognition; as well as electric-field sensing componentry for assessingbrain activity.

When included, communication subsystem 1210 may be configured tocommunicatively couple computing system 1200 with one or more othercomputing devices. Communication subsystem 1210 may include wired and/orwireless communication devices compatible with one or more differentcommunication protocols. As non-limiting examples, the communicationsubsystem may be configured for communication via a wireless telephonenetwork, or a wired or wireless local- or wide-area network. In someembodiments, the communication subsystem may allow computing system 1200to send and/or receive messages to and/or from other devices via anetwork such as the Internet.

Another example provides a computer-implemented method for reading datastored as birefringence values in a storage medium, the methodcomprising acquiring an image of a voxel of the storage medium, theimage of the voxel comprising higher frequency image information arisingfrom a birefringence state of the voxel and lower frequency imageinformation arising from one or more birefringent regions of the storagemedium other than the voxel, applying a first low-pass filter with afirst cutoff frequency to the image of the voxel to obtain a firstbackground image, applying a second low-pass filter with a second cutofffrequency to the image of the voxel to obtain a second background image,the second cutoff frequency being different than the first cutofffrequency, determining an enhanced background image from the firstbackground image and the second background image, determiningbirefringence values for the enhanced background image, determiningbirefringence values for the image of the voxel, and correcting thebirefringence values for the image of the voxel based upon thebirefringence values for the enhanced background image. In some suchexamples, acquiring the image of the voxel of the storage mediumcomprises acquiring a plurality of images of the voxel at differentpolarization states, and wherein applying the first low-pass filter andthe second low-pass filter to the image of the voxel comprises applyingthe first low-pass filter and the second low-pass filter to each imageof the plurality of images of the voxel. In some such examples,determining the enhanced background image comprises combining the firstbackground image and the second background image with a multiplicativeconstant. In some such examples, the enhanced background image for imagem_(k) of the voxel acquired at polarization state k is denoted as b_(k)and is determined by:b _(k)=α(LowPass₁(m _(k))−LowPass₂(m _(k)))+LowPass₂(m _(k))wherein the first low-pass filter is LowPass₁, the second low-passfilter is LowPass₂, and α is the multiplicative constant. In some suchexamples, t the birefringence values for the enhanced background imagecomprises a background retardance δ_(b) and a background angle θ_(b)determined from b_(k), wherein the birefringence values for the image ofthe voxel comprises a measurement retardance δ_(m) and a measurementangle θ_(m) determined from m_(k), and wherein the method furthercomprises correcting the birefringence values by determining a relativeangle θ_(r) and a relative retardance δ_(r) byδ_(r) sin 2θ_(r)=δ_(m) sin 2θ_(m)−δ_(b) sin 2θ_(b) =U,δ_(r) cos 2θ_(r)=δ_(m) sin 2θ_(m)−δ_(b) sin 2θ_(b) =V,δ_(r)=√{square root over (U ² +V ²)}, and

${\theta_{r} = {\frac{1}{2}{\arctan\left( \frac{U}{V} \right)}}}.$In some such examples, the method further comprises determining a basedupon optimizing an error between a retardance of a known specimen andcalculated retardance distributions. In some such examples, acquiringthe image of the voxel comprises acquiring an image of an array ofvoxels in an image plane, and wherein the one or more birefringentregions of the storage medium other than the voxel comprises one or moreother voxels outside of the image plane.

Another example provides a computer system, comprising a logicsubsystem, and a storage subsystem comprising instructions executable bythe logic subsystem to read birefringent data from a storage medium byreceiving an image of a voxel of the storage medium, the imagecomprising higher frequency image information arising from abirefringence state of the voxel and lower frequency image informationarising from one or more birefringent regions of the storage mediumother than the voxel, applying a first low-pass filter with a firstcutoff frequency to the image of the voxel to obtain a first backgroundimage, applying a second low-pass filter with a second cutoff frequencyto the image of the voxel to obtain a second background image, thesecond cutoff frequency being different than the first cutoff frequency,determining an enhanced background image from the first background imageand the second background image, determining birefringence values forthe enhanced background image, determining birefringence values for theimage of the voxel, and correcting the birefringence values for theimage of the voxel based upon the birefringence values for the enhancedbackground image. In some such examples, the instructions executable toacquire the image of the voxel of the storage medium are executable toacquire a plurality of images of the voxel at different polarizationstates, and to apply the first low-pass filter and the second low-passfilter to each image of the plurality of images of the voxel. In somesuch examples, the instructions executable to determine the enhancedbackground image comprise instructions executable to combining the firstbackground image and the second background image with a multiplicativeconstant. In some such examples, the enhanced background image for imagem_(k) of the voxel acquired at polarization state k is denoted as b_(k)and wherein the instructions are executable to determine b_(k) byb _(k)=α(LowPass₁(m _(k))−LowPass₂(m _(k)))+LowPass₂(m _(k))wherein the first low-pass filter is LowPass₁, the second low-passfilter is LowPass₂, and α is the multiplicative constant. In some suchexamples, the birefringence values for the enhanced background imagecomprises a background retardance δ_(b) and a background angle θ_(b)determined from b_(k), wherein the birefringence values for the image ofthe voxel comprises a measurement retardance δ_(m) and a measurementangle θ_(m) determined from m_(k), and wherein the instructions areexecutable to correct the birefringence values by determining a relativeangle θ_(r) and a relative retardance δ_(r) given by:δ_(r) sin 2θ_(r)=δ_(m) sin 2θ_(m)−δ_(b) sin 2θ_(b) =U,δ_(r) cos 2θ_(r)=δ_(m) sin 2θ_(m)−δ_(b) sin 2θ_(b) =V, and

${\delta_{r} = \sqrt{U^{2} + V^{2}}},{{{and}\mspace{14mu}\theta_{r}} = {\frac{1}{2}{{\arctan\left( \frac{U}{V} \right)}.}}}$In some such examples, the instructions are further executable todetermine α by optimizing an error between a retardance of a knownspecimen and calculated retardance distributions. In some such examples,the instructions are executable to acquire the image of the voxel byacquiring an image of an array of voxels in an image plane, and whereinthe one or more birefringent regions of the storage medium other thanthe voxel comprises one or more other voxels outside of the image plane.Another example provides a computer-readable storage device comprisinginstructions that are executable by a computing system to readbirefringent data from a storage medium by receiving an image of a voxelof the storage medium, the image comprising higher frequency imageinformation arising from a birefringence state of the voxel and lowerfrequency image information arising from one or more birefringentregions of the storage medium other than the voxel, applying a firstlow-pass filter with a first cutoff frequency to the image of the voxelto obtain a first background image, applying a second low-pass filterwith a second cutoff frequency to the image of the voxel to obtain asecond background image, the second cutoff frequency being differentthan the first cutoff frequency, determining an enhanced backgroundimage from the first background image and the second background image,determining birefringence values for the enhanced background image,determining birefringence values for the image of the voxel, andcorrecting the birefringence values for the image of the voxel basedupon the birefringence values for the enhanced background image. In somesuch examples, the instructions executable to acquire the image of thevoxel of the storage medium are executable to acquire a plurality ofimages of the voxel at different polarization states, and to apply thefirst low-pass filter and the second low-pass filter to each image ofthe plurality of images of the voxel. In some such examples, theinstructions executable to determine the enhanced background imagecomprise instructions executable to combining the first background imageand the second background image with a multiplicative constant. In somesuch examples, the enhanced background image for image m_(k) of thevoxel acquired at polarization state k is denoted as b_(k) and whereinthe instructions are executable to determine b_(k) by:b _(k)=α(LowPass₁(m _(k))−LowPass₂(m _(k)))+LowPass₂(m _(k))wherein the first low-pass filter is LowPass₁, the second low-passfilter is LowPass₂ and α is the multiplicative constant. In some suchexamples, the birefringence values for the enhanced background imagecomprise a background retardance δ_(b) and a background angle θ_(b)determined from b_(k), wherein the birefringence values for the image ofthe voxel comprises a measurement retardance δ_(m) and a measurementangle θ_(m) determined from m_(k), and wherein the instructions areexecutable to correct the birefringence values by determining a relativeangle θ_(r) and a relative retardance given byδ_(r) sin 2θ_(r)=δ_(m) sin 2θ_(m)−δ_(b) sin 2θ_(b) =U,δ_(r) cos 2θ_(r)=δ_(m) sin 2θ_(m)−δ_(b) sin 2θ_(b) =V,δ_(r)=√{square root over (U ² +V ²)}, and

${\theta_{r} = {\frac{1}{2}{\arctan\left( \frac{U}{V} \right)}}}.$In some such examples, the instructions are executable to acquire theimage of the voxel by acquiring an image of an array of voxels in animage plane, and wherein the one or more birefringent regions of thestorage medium other than the voxel comprises one or more other voxelsoutside of the image plane.

Another example provides, on a computing device, a method for readingdata stored as birefringence values in a storage medium, the methodcomprising acquiring a measurement comprising an intensity m_(k) imageof a voxel of the storage medium using light of a polarization state k,determining a likelihood function for the image of the voxel, thelikelihood function representing a likelihood, for each birefringencevalue set of a plurality of possible birefringence value sets, of anintensity of the voxel being produced by the birefringence value set,the likelihood function being based upon a selected data model and aselected noise model; determine a maximum value of the likelihoodfunction, and determine a most likely set of birefringence values forthe voxel based upon a birefringence value set that produce the maximumvalue of the likelihood function. In some such examples, the noise modelcomprises a Gaussian noise model. In some such examples, the likelihoodof measuring an intensity m_(k) of an image of a voxel for a measurementstate k is given by:

${{P\left( m_{k} \middle| I_{k} \right)} = {\left( {2\pi\sigma^{2}} \right)^{- \frac{1}{2}}{\exp\left( {- \frac{\left( {I_{k} - m_{k}} \right)^{2}}{2\sigma^{2}}} \right)}}},$

where polarization state k comprises a swing χ_(k) and an angle θ_(k),

where I_(k)=a(1−cos χ_(k) cos δ+sin χ_(k) sin δ sin(2ϕ−2θ))+b and is anexpected measurement taken for the polarization state k,

where δ is a retardance of the voxel of the storage medium,

where ϕ is an azimuth angle of the voxel of the storage medium,

where a is a scale parameter,

where b is an offset, and

where σ is a representation of noise.

In some such examples, the likelihood function, for a set ofmeasurements {m_(k)}_(k=1) ^(N), is represented by L and is given byL=Π_(k=1) ^(N)P(m_(k)|I_(k)), and wherein the method comprises computingL for a plurality of values of each of a, b, δ and ϕ, and determiningthe most likely set of birefringence values as {a, b, δ, ϕ}=argmax(L(a,b, δ, ϕ)).

It will be understood that the configurations and/or approachesdescribed herein are exemplary in nature, and that these specificembodiments or examples are not to be considered in a limiting sense,because numerous variations are possible. The specific routines ormethods described herein may represent one or more of any number ofprocessing strategies. As such, various acts illustrated and/ordescribed may be performed in the sequence illustrated and/or described,in other sequences, in parallel, or omitted. Likewise, the order of theabove-described processes may be changed.

The subject matter of the present disclosure includes all novel andnon-obvious combinations and sub-combinations of the various processes,systems and configurations, and other features, functions, acts, and/orproperties disclosed herein, as well as any and all equivalents thereof.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for readingdata stored as birefringence values in a storage medium, the methodcomprising: acquiring an image of a voxel of the storage medium, theimage of the voxel comprising higher frequency image information arisingfrom a birefringence state of the voxel and lower frequency imageinformation arising from one or more birefringent regions of the storagemedium other than the voxel; applying a first low-pass filter with afirst cutoff frequency to the image of the voxel to obtain a firstbackground image; applying a second low-pass filter with a second cutofffrequency to the image of the voxel to obtain a second background image,the second cutoff frequency being different than the first cutofffrequency; determining an enhanced background image from the firstbackground image and the second background image; determiningbirefringence values for the enhanced background image; determiningbirefringence values for the image of the voxel; and correcting thebirefringence values for the image of the voxel based upon thebirefringence values for the enhanced background image.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein acquiring the image of the voxel of the storage mediumcomprises acquiring a plurality of images of the voxel at differentpolarization states, and wherein applying the first low-pass filter andthe second low-pass filter to the image of the voxel comprises applyingthe first low-pass filter and the second low-pass filter to each imageof the plurality of images of the voxel.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein determining the enhanced background image comprises combiningthe first background image and the second background image with amultiplicative constant.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the enhancedbackground image for image m_(k) of the voxel acquired at polarizationstate k is denoted as b_(k) and is determined by:b _(k)=α(LowPass₁(m _(k))−LowPass₂(m _(k)))+LowPass₂(m _(k)) wherein thefirst low-pass filter is LowPass₁, the second low-pass filter isLowPass₂, and α is the multiplicative constant.
 5. The method of claim4, wherein the birefringence values for the enhanced background imagecomprises a background retardance δ_(b) and a background angle θ_(b)determined from b_(k), wherein the birefringence values for the image ofthe voxel comprise a measurement retardance δ_(m) and a measurementangle θ_(m) determined from m_(k), and wherein the method furthercomprises correcting the birefringence values by determining a relativeangle θ_(r) and a relative retardance δ_(r) byδ_(r) sin 2θ_(r)=δ_(m) sin 2θ_(m)−δ_(b) sin 2θ_(b) =U,δ_(r) cos 2θ_(r)=δ_(m) sin 2θ_(m)−δ_(b) sin 2θ_(b) =V,δ_(r)=√{square root over (U ² +V ²)}, and${\theta_{r} = {\frac{1}{2}{\arctan\left( \frac{U}{V} \right)}}}.$ 6.The method of claim 4, further comprising determining a based uponoptimizing an error between a retardance of a known specimen andcalculated retardance distributions.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereinacquiring the image of the voxel comprises acquiring an image of anarray of voxels in an image plane, and wherein the one or morebirefringent regions of the storage medium other than the voxelcomprises one or more other voxels outside of the image plane.
 8. Acomputer system, comprising: a logic subsystem; and a storage subsystemcomprising instructions executable by the logic subsystem to readbirefringent data from a storage medium by receiving an image of a voxelof the storage medium, the image comprising higher frequency imageinformation arising from a birefringence state of the voxel and lowerfrequency image information arising from one or more birefringentregions of the storage medium other than the voxel; applying a firstlow-pass filter with a first cutoff frequency to the image of the voxelto obtain a first background image; applying a second low-pass filterwith a second cutoff frequency to the image of the voxel to obtain asecond background image, the second cutoff frequency being differentthan the first cutoff frequency; determining an enhanced backgroundimage from the first background image and the second background image;determining birefringence values for the enhanced background image;determining birefringence values for the image of the voxel; andcorrecting the birefringence values for the image of the voxel basedupon the birefringence values for the enhanced background image.
 9. Thecomputer system of claim 8, wherein the instructions executable toacquire the image of the voxel of the storage medium are executable toacquire a plurality of images of the voxel at different polarizationstates, and to apply the first low-pass filter and the second low-passfilter to each image of the plurality of images of the voxel.
 10. Thecomputer system of claim 8, wherein the instructions executable todetermine the enhanced background image comprise instructions executableto combining the first background image and the second background imagewith a multiplicative constant.
 11. The computer system of claim 10,wherein the enhanced background image for image m_(k) of the voxelacquired at polarization state k is denoted as b_(k) and wherein theinstructions are executable to determine b_(k) by:b _(k)=α(LowPass₁(m _(k))−LowPass₂(m _(k)))+LowPass₂(m _(k)) wherein thefirst low-pass filter is LowPass₁, the second low-pass filter isLowPass₂, and α is the multiplicative constant.
 12. The computer systemof claim 11, wherein the birefringence values for the enhancedbackground image comprises a background retardance δ_(b) and abackground angle θ_(b) determined from b_(k), wherein the birefringencevalues for the image of the voxel comprises a measurement retardanceδ_(m) and a measurement angle θ_(m) determined from m_(k), and whereinthe instructions are executable to correct the birefringence values bydetermining a relative angle θ_(r) and a relative retardance δ_(r) givenby:δ_(r) sin 2θ_(r)=δ_(m) sin 2θ_(m)−θ_(b) sin 2θ_(b) =U,δ_(r) cos 2θ_(r)=δ_(m) sin 2θ_(m)−δ_(b) sin 2θ_(b) =V,δ_(r)=√{square root over (U ² +V ²)}, and${\theta_{r} = {\frac{1}{2}{\arctan\left( \frac{U}{V} \right)}}}.$ 13.The computer system of claim 11, wherein the instructions are furtherexecutable to determine α by optimizing an error between a retardance ofa known specimen and calculated retardance distributions.
 14. Thecomputer system of claim 8, wherein the instructions are executable toacquire the image of the voxel by acquiring an image of an array ofvoxels in an image plane, and wherein the one or more birefringentregions of the storage medium other than the voxel comprises one or moreother voxels outside of the image plane.
 15. A computer-readable storagedevice comprising instructions that are executable by a computing systemto read birefringent data from a storage medium by receiving an image ofa voxel of the storage medium, the image comprising higher frequencyimage information arising from a birefringence state of the voxel andlower frequency image information arising from one or more birefringentregions of the storage medium other than the voxel; applying a firstlow-pass filter with a first cutoff frequency to the image of the voxelto obtain a first background image; applying a second low-pass filterwith a second cutoff frequency to the image of the voxel to obtain asecond background image, the second cutoff frequency being differentthan the first cutoff frequency; determining an enhanced backgroundimage from the first background image and the second background image;determining birefringence values for the enhanced background image;determining birefringence values for the image of the voxel; andcorrecting the birefringence values for the image of the voxel basedupon the birefringence values for the enhanced background image.
 16. Thestorage device of claim 15, wherein the instructions executable toacquire the image of the voxel of the storage medium are executable toacquire a plurality of images of the voxel at different polarizationstates, and to apply the first low-pass filter and the second low-passfilter to each image of the plurality of images of the voxel.
 17. Thestorage device of claim 15, wherein the instructions executable todetermine the enhanced background image comprise instructions executableto combining the first background image and the second background imagewith a multiplicative constant.
 18. The storage device of claim 17,wherein the enhanced background image for image m_(k) of the voxelacquired at polarization state k is denoted as b_(k) and wherein theinstructions are executable to determine b_(k) by:b _(k)=α(LowPass₁(m _(k))−LowPass₂(m _(k)))+LowPass₂(m _(k)) wherein thefirst low-pass filter is LowPass₁, the second low-pass filter isLowPass₂, and α is the multiplicative constant.
 19. The storage deviceof claim 17, wherein the birefringence values for the enhancedbackground image comprises a background retardance δ_(b) and abackground angle θ_(b) determined from b_(k), wherein the birefringencevalues for the image of the voxel comprises a measurement retardanceδ_(m) and a measurement angle θ_(m) determined from m_(k), and whereinthe instructions are executable to correct the birefringence values bydetermining a relative angle θ_(r) and a relative retardance given by:δ_(r) sin 2θ_(r)=δ_(m) sin 2θ_(m)−δ_(b) sin 2θ_(b) =U,δ_(r) cos 2θ_(r)=δ_(m) sin 2θ_(m)−δ_(b) sin 2θ_(b) =V,δ_(r)=√{square root over (U ² +V ²)}, and${\theta_{r} = {\frac{1}{2}{\arctan\left( \frac{U}{V} \right)}}}.$ 20.The storage device of claim 15, wherein the instructions are executableto acquire the image of the voxel by acquiring an image of an array ofvoxels in an image plane, and wherein the one or more birefringentregions of the storage medium other than the voxel comprises one or moreother voxels outside of the image plane.